all 'white' kitchen might not be ideal with small children, consider natural wood tones.

There have been a lot of houzz discussions on the use of marble which include suggestions for alternatives if maintenance is a problem (I agree - I have two little kids and it would be way too annoying to worry about stains) - some options could be using marble as your backsplash and a solid black, grey or white quartz (or a black granite) for counter; a marble look quartz; quartzite (my understanding is that it's between marble and granite in terms of durability); or a light colored granite.

jzaddy, for a very clean and elegant look, you may also research on other materials, as sam suggested, such as quarta, Corian, etc. We went with Corian exactly for the simple and clean look (and ease of maintenance).